15 March 2012

An Elizabethan vizard

The mask was found during the renovation of an inner wall of a
16th-century stone building. The wall was approximately four feet thick,
and the mask was found concealed within the inner hard core of the wall...

The outer fabric is black velvet. The lining is silk. The inside is
strengthened by a pressed-paper inner. The three layers are stitched
together by a black cotton thread. On the lining, just below the centre of the mouth, is a loose thread
of white cotton. This cotton would have held the black glass bead (found
in association with the mask)... The black glass bead was used to hold the mask in place. With a lack of
holes to allow string or elastic to be put around the head, the mask
would have instead been held in place by the wearer holding the black
bead in her mouth...

[An] Elizabethan scholar, Randle Holme, wrote: "A mask . . . This is a
thing that in former times Gentlewomen used to put over their Faces
when they travel to keep them from Sun burning....Visard Mask, which
covers the whole face, having holes for the eyes, a case for the nose,
and a slit for the mouth, and to speak through; this kind of Mask is
taken off and put in a moment of time, being only held in the Teeth by
means of a round bead fastned on the inside over against the mouth."

Heumpje, several theories are mentioned at the Portable Antiquities Scheme link. I only transcribe parts of source material; I don't consider it polite or ethical to take too much material. You'll need to click on my links for full stories.

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I'm using an old photo of my grandfather as an avatar; he would have been amused.
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